If you don’t have a plan, how will you know when you are successful? Without a predetermined road map, how do you know where you are going? Without a target in your crosshair, how will you know if you are pointed in the right direction? It is your responsibility to have a written plan that continually measures your debt-reduction progress.
Planning for the future is biblical. Joseph told the people of Egypt to prepare for the coming famine. During the years of surplus, Joseph was wise enough to gather the excess and store it for later use. He was a great model of advance preparation in process. The preparation done by the Egyptians cared for their needs during the years of lack.
Genesis 41:48,49
“Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.”
There is a biblical story about a man about to lose his job, planning ahead for his future well being, even though he does so in an unscrupulous way. Sensible people look ahead and plan for the future. They manage money to provide benefit for the present, as well as the future. Christ is suggesting that in doing good works we should consider our future with just as much ingenuity as the dishonest steward considered his future. As stewards of Jesus Christ, we are mandated with responsibility to use every means at our disposal to spread the Good News to all. In doing so, our gains will have great affect in eternal matters. The shrewdness with which the unjust servant negated his responsibility to his lord was commended. He promoted his cause with the utmost care and effort. With an unprincipled passion he sought to use his master’s money in securing advantage after his inevitable dismissal. Christ was simply asking those to whom he spoke to be just as inventive, but for a better cause. This can happen only when we look down the line a bit and seek to plan ahead. The message is clear. In our stewardship responsibility to God, we should be at least as wholehearted and energetic as the misguided steward was in prosecuting his own interests.
Luke 14:28-30
Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
Wisely setting goals leads to better results: “The plans of the diligent lead to profit” (Proverbs 21:5).
Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matthew 6:33-34). Our goal-setting need not be accompanied by fear. If our plans focus on Christ and honor Him, He will see to it that the best results are ours.
Proverbs 27:23; Know well the condition of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds;
Our Future, Our Home.
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